KUALA LUMPUR: Scenes of long queues at jewellery shops have become a common sight across the country of late.
Apart from being worn for personal adornment, people are willing to queue up to buy the precious metal as a great form of investment.
Checks by Bernama found that jewellery shops around the federal capital were overwhelmed with customers irrespective of gender especially ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Norsiah Ahmad, 38, when met in front of a goldsmith shop at the Keramat Urban Transformation Centre (UTC), said she planned to buy gold jewellery for her daughter and mother, using the money she had saved for several years working as a night market trader.
"I buy gold jewellery not only for adornment but also as an investment,” she said.
Private sector worker Khairul Azmi, 42, when met while queuing up in front of a jeweller in a shopping centre, said apart from buying gold jewellery for his wife to wear, he would also buy 999 gold coins for saving and investment purposes.
"I used to buy gold coins and would sell it in times of emergency to get immediate cash.
"I think gold is the safest investment, we know where our money goes. Gold is easy to sell and has a lower depreciation rate compared to other things,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Adilah Azhari, a senior lecturer, Finance Department, at the School of Economics, Finance and Banking, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), said the upward trend in buying gold was due to the sentiment that gold is a long-term investment asset that can be easily pawned at a stable value to fund emergency cash needs.
"Gold is a good investment if the investors also have liquid assets such as savings that can be used during emergencies.
"Studies have shown that gold is a preferred investment choice in times of recession because it is considered as a safe and inflation-proof asset,” she said, adding that there has been a steady increase in gold prices since 2018.
Adilah was of the view that the diversification of assets in the investment portfolio was also important due to different risk characteristics of each asset that would affect the return on investment. - Bernama
